The paper demonstrates the economic consequences of a new EU directive that introduces resale rights in all member states. The lifetime income of young, unknwon artists is likely to shrink, despite the intention of the EU to increase their income. Even if the lifetime income were increasing, the paper shows that this does not necessarily mean that the lifetime utility of the artists increases as well: due to the law of diminishing returns of money, the lifetime utility can be decreasing. The droit de suite may also have devastating effects on the incentives of dealers to promote the work of young, unknown artist. Thus, the EU directive seems to be driven by a desire for harmonization of European law at all costs.